The Latest Buzz About Bourbon Whiskey

Posts Tagged Barbecue

There’s no better way to toast America’s birthday this 4th of July than with Maker’s Mark Kentucky straight bourbon whisky – a truly all American spirit. Located in Loretto, KY, the Maker’s Mark distillery is the world’s oldest operating bourbon whisky distillery and a National Historic Landmark.

Special for the holiday, Maker’s Mark is selling tri-packs with three 375 ml. bottles sealed in red, white and blue wax. These packs will be sold for a limited time only in select U.S. states and will retail for $29.99.

Maker’s Mark suggests making the following refreshing cocktails with your red, white and blue bottles for a memorable 4th of July barbecue and throughout the summer.

For a Kentucky bourbon barbecue sauce, simmer some onion and garlic in a couple of cups of bourbon. A slow simmer will soften the onion and garlic, and the bourbon will mellow to buttery richness as the alcohol cooks off.

The foundation of this sauce is ketchup and tomato paste. Sweeten it with brown sugar and molasses, then balance that by adding cider vinegar, pineapple and lemon juice (pineapple and lemon juice are natural complements to bourbon). Add depth with Worcestershire sauce, salt, liquid smoke and dry mustard, then spice it just a bit with a little hot sauce and chile powder.

Slightly sweet, the sauce is perfect mopped over pecan-crusted pork spareribs. Coat the ribs with a seasoned wet rub of Dijon mustard, brown sugar and chopped pecans, then cover and bake them over low heat for two to three hours until they’re meltingly tender. Shortly before they’re done, uncover them and baste them with the barbecue sauce; the sauce will thicken to a beautiful shellac. Serve the ribs hot, with a stack of napkins.

Recipe: Kentucky bourbon barbecue sauce

Total time: 1 hour, 10 minutes, plus about 3 hours cooking time for the ribs

Servings: 10 to 12

Note: This is my version of a popular sauce. Make the barbecue sauce at least 3 days in advance to allow the flavors to develop. This makes about 7 cups of sauce, more than is required for this recipe. The sauce will keep up to 2 weeks, refrigerated.